Leigh will benefit from several advantages going into the play offs which are the consequence of coming first in the league.
Firstly, they will play both games, if they win their semi, at the LSV.
For anyone else who was there at Fev in February on that night when we got well and truly turned over they are likely to share my abiding memory of that atrocious home pitch, the slope, the surface water and the mud, great big swathes of it. The advantage is not so much that we will play the play offs on the beautiful surface that is the LSV but that we will not be at risk of having to play at an away ground on a substandard pitch in which the home team are masters of its dimensions, its quirks, its conditions and its mud.
Secondly, whilst Leigh will play the 'easier' of the two semi's, against probably Barrow, although it could just as easily be Batley, assuming Fax dispose of a fairly limited York, the Leigh game is unlikely to be too demanding in comparison with the likely slug-fest that will be the other semi.
Yes, I was there at Barrow when Leigh should have lost but escaped with a win but, there were factors at play in that game which will not be present if we play them in the semi. We will not have played a huge game just 5 days previously - the 1895 Cup Final - we will have a full squad to choose from - there was significant rotation of players for that game at Barrow with several of the team selected that day being players who have been very much on the fringe of team selection for most of the season.
In addition, we will not be playing opponents fired-up by a raucous and deservedly partisan Cumbrian home crowd that encouraged their team to go for broke and give it a real dig after having gone 18-nil down to us mid way through the first half. Yes, Barrow played with no little skill that day but we must not overlook the fact that we had them by the throat and we took our boot off them. We let them off the hook. Spirited Barrow, or Batley will come to the semi at the LSV more in hope than expectation of causing an upset. Whilst they will try their best to test us the game itself should not be overly testing against game, but limited opponents.
Compare and contrast our game with the likely fireworks that will be present in the West Yorkshire derby that will be the other semi. Yes, Fev have been a good second best team in the Championship division but Fax are not too far behind in terms of quality of players and standard of play. Their fans certainly had a sense of grievance following their first game against Fev where they felt that they did not get a fair bounce of the ball, that their team was very much in the contest and that Fax could and perhaps should have won on the day.
A Fev v Fax semi will be a full bloodied affair with everything at stake. Whichever team wins will be counting the bruises and worriedly scanning the injuries. Just as importantly they might be looking worriedly to the outcomes of disciplinary proceedings if it all kicks off during that game, which could well occur. The game will be a huge high and for whoever wins they have to raise themselves and go again just a week later, against almost certainly Leigh. They face the problem of lifting themselves physically and emotionally for the biggest game of the season after coming off an all or nothing, winner takes all, huge game the week before.
These factors, I am convinced, are not only relevant but that they are also very much in Leigh's favour. However, having said all of this, it does not, of course, mean that Leigh are guaranteed to win the final, far from it. All of the above will count for nowt if Leigh fail to turn up and perform in either play off game but I just cannot see this team, that we have at present, doing that. Leigh it is then for Super League.
